Removal of parking bays in Wooler ruled out after concerns raised by traders and parish council

It was among the suggestions made by Northumberland County Council to ensure residents and visitors can comply with social distancing guidelines as lockdown eases.

Coun Mark Mather, chairman of Wooler Parish Council, said: “There was an initial survey of the high street done by Northumberland County Council and they felt our footpaths were too narrow.

“One of the suggestions from Northumberland County Council was to remove all high street parking to allow the footpaths to be extended into the parking bays so they could be used.

“We got in touch with the retailers’ association to get their feedback and immediately replied to the county council that the parish council is absolutely backing the Wooler traders and did not think that any removal of parking on the high street was good for trade. There is simply not enough parking in Wooler to house it.

“We’ve had more conversations with the county council since then and they have agreed to leave the high street parking, reduce the speed down to 20mph to try and make the area safer and place extra signage reminding people of social distancing.

“One suggestion we have put forward is that rather than losing the high street parking we would rather have it as a one-way system. This isn’t backed by the retailers’ association but we would rather keep high street parking.

“We’re going to monitor the situation with county to see if there are any pinch points we need to deal with quickly. It’s a very fluid situation and rules and regulations are changing all the time but that’s where we are at the moment.”

He said the county council had concerns if more visitors arrive, although members noted that most are currently going walking rather than shopping.

Coun Mark Napier noted: “The high street isn’t so busy that you need that measure. It’s only when people stop to talk to each other when there’s a problem but on the whole everybody kept their distance.”

Retailers have also been asked to remove any pavement obstructions such as promotional signage.

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